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Jesse Jackson Jr., the son of civil rights leader the Rev. Jesse Jackson, was born March 11, 1965, in Greenville, S.C., but raised was on Chicago’s South Side. He graduated with a degree in business management in 1987 and received a master's degree in theology from Chicago Theological Seminary. In 1993 Jackson earned a law degree from the University of Illinois College of Law. He ran for his first elected post in 1994, becoming a Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives for Illinois. He served eight-plus terms, from 1995 until 2012, resigning under a cloud that year. He and his wife, former Chicago Ald. Sandi Jackson, were both convicted in federal court over the misuse of campaign funds, and Jackson Jr. was sentenced to 30 months in prison beginning Oct. 29, 2013.

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U.S. Representative Jesse Jackson Jr. stands with a group of about 50 ministers and other religious leaders voicing support for his re-election campaign during an event at the Park 52 restaurant in February.

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U.S. Rep. Aaron Schock's terrible, horrible, no good, very bad week has turned into his terrible, horrible, no good, very bad month.The liberal-leaning Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics (CREW) in Washington, news outlet Politico and The Associated...

Integrity is often a deep mystery to public officials. It must be, because they seem so befuddled by it.
New York Rep. Anthony Weiner was mystified why weiner-selfies would be a problem.
There was South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford who claimed to be out...

The two aldermen appointed by Mayor Rahm Emanuel since taking office will face voters for the first time next week, and the results could help determine how strong the mayor's lock will be on the Chicago City Council should he win re-election.
On the...

If you took a helicopter ride across Chicago, you would see leafy parks and tree-lined streets. You would marvel at a sparkling Lake Michigan. You would admire the striking downtown architecture.
In certain neighborhoods on the West and South sides,...

Sen. Mark Kirk has $2 million in his war chest as he girds for his 2016 campaign, a race expected to be tough, costly and closely watched around the country.
Four Democratic representatives from Illinois are angling for his job, but none has officially...

President Barack Obama is getting ready to deliver a big fat presidential bro-hug to his little buddy Mayor Rahm Emanuel just days before the mayoral election in Chicago.
That's when the president is scheduled to use the federal Antiquities Act to...

State Sen. Daniel Biss appears to be the first Democrat to actively float his name for the 2016 special election for state comptroller.
The Evanston Democrat is known as a policy wonk around the statehouse, but he's also a prodigious fundraiser, ending...

If you follow politics in this crooked city of tribes, you know that Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis — the woman tough enough to back Mayor Rahm Emanuel down — has taken ill.
We're told she's been in the hospital since Sunday, and NBC 5...

WASHINGTON -- Former Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr., who entered federal prison in North Carolina last Oct. 29, now is incarcerated at a prison camp in Montgomery, Ala., according to the Bureau of Prisons.
Jackson, 49, who is Inmate No. 32451-016, shows...

A challenger has emerged to Mayor Rahm Emanuel in next year’s re-election campaign, and it’s not the lakefront liberal or progressive stalwart that City Hall critics had hoped would be the standard bearer.
Instead, it’s Robert Shaw, an old-school...

WASHINGTON — Jesse Jackson Jr., the former congressman imprisoned for looting $750,000 from his campaign treasury, will pay the $550,000 balance of the forfeiture he owes the federal government by refinancing a home mortgage, lawyers said in a court...

Katherine Skiba of the Chicago Tribune has been honored by the National Press Club for her reporting from Washington, according to an announcement today by the organization.Contest judges gave three awards to The Wall Street Journal and two each to USA...

WASHINGTON—Sentencing experts were not surprised Tuesday at news that former Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., now in a federal prison camp in Alabama, will be eligible for placement in a halfway house beginning Sept. 20.
They pointed to his relatively light...

Rev. Anthony Williams headed home to Dolton from the demonstrations here believing he had witnessed the seeds of a movement to at long last address "institutional violence" against young black men.
Craig Taylor, on the other hand, said while...

State leaders are talking again about that little town 44 miles south of Chicago. Peotone. Followed by "airport."
Peotone has been the designated site for a new regional airport for more than 20 years. On paper. Not a single spade of dirt has...

WASHINGTON — Jesse Jackson Jr. is out of Congress and in a prison camp, but he hasn't escaped the wrath of the Federal Election Commission.
On Friday, the FEC announced nearly $18,000 in fines against his campaign committee for failure to file...

The "Weeks in Review" feature is an open thread in which commenters can talk about any current events or cultural phenomena that have caught their attention, including but not limited to the topics brought up in our traditional roundup of ...

WASHINGTON — As former Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. awaits sentencing on July 3, his lawyers filed a court document today saying that he needs ongoing mental health treatment and is unlikely to get suitable care if sent to prison.
“It is unlikely that Mr....

WASHINGTON — Lawyers for former Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., who will be sentenced July 3 for looting his campaign treasury of about $750,000, said Monday that if both Jackson and his wife, Sandi Jackson, are sent to prison, he’d like to serve first.
In a...